When the Japanese summer arrives — humid, hot, and relentless — there’s one drink that never fails to cool people down: iced coffee. Known in Japan as “aisu kōhī” (アイスコーヒー), this chilled version of coffee has been loved for over a century, becoming a symbol of summer itself. A Long History of Chilled Coffee Iced coffee isn’t a modern invention. In fact, Japan has been enjoying it since the Taishō era (around the 1920s), when coffeehouses began serving it with gum syrup and milk. At that time, drinking cold beverages like iced tea was already common, so it was ...
